


10 Minutes for Hugging

by aokayinspace



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hockey, Coming Out, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aokayinspace/pseuds/aokayinspace
Summary: The Milkovich-Gallagher rivalry was legendary in the hockey world. Whenever their two teams met on the ice, it was guaranteed to be heated and entertaining. Tonight was no different.Or, the hockey AU exactly one person asked for
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 16
Kudos: 147





	10 Minutes for Hugging

**Author's Note:**

> So my friend and I were texting about a Gallavich hockey AU and the idea just wouldn't leave my brain. I posted a few headcanons for this universe on tumblr but didn't have actual plans for a fic in mind until I was watching a game and [this](https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/1297756431718858752?s=20) happened. You shouldn’t need to know anything about hockey in order to follow and enjoy this fic. Of course it will be useful, but I hope I did a good enough job explaining things. Below is a little glossary of a few hockey terms I used. If there is any other hockey lingo I missed or you’re confused about feel free to reach out to me and I can edit this list.
> 
> Hockey terms:  
> Chirp - hockey slang for trash talk  
> Celly - short for “celebration”, basically the way a player will celebrate after a goal. Some players have elaborate cellies that can involve anything from a fist pump to jumping against the glass to moon walking. It’s basically like a hockey player’s happy dance after a goal.  
> Gordie Howe hat trick - a regular hat trick is scoring three goals in one game. A Gordie Howe hat trick however when a player gets a goal, an assist, and a fight all in the same game. It is named after hall-of-famer Gordie Howe who did this a couple times in his hockey career.  
> Billet family - basically like a host family. In junior hockey, a lot of boys are playing for teams away from home so they are housed with billet families during the season.  
> Hockey is also a very superstitious sport. One such superstition is if one touches the Stanley Cup before their team has won it, it is bad luck. This specific superstition will pop up in the fic.

The Milkovich-Gallagher rivalry was legendary in the hockey world. Whenever their two teams met on the ice, it was guaranteed to be heated and entertaining. Tonight was no different. 

The chirps started from the minute their skates hit the ice. It was game 1 of round 2 of the Stanley Cup finals, so this game was going to set the tone for the seven game series to come. 

So far, Ian had not taken up any of Mickey’s attempts to drop gloves. His team was up 2-0 and he knew he’d never hear the end of it from Coach if he ended up in the box for five minutes for something stupid. It was playoffs after all, and every game mattered. He chirped back, got hits in when he could, but kept his play clean and legal. 

In the second period, Mickey took things up a notch. His team was losing and he was growing increasingly more frustrated that Ian wasn’t responding to any of his invitations, which just meant upping the ante. He poked Ian a few times with the end of his stick, trying to rile him up. Ian was just smiling at him daring him to instigate so Mickey skated in close, wrapped his arms around Ian in a sort of hug-like hold.

“Come on Gallagher, you know you want a piece of this,” Mickey snarled in Ian’s ear. But instead of dropping his gloves, Ian just stood there and the linesmen came to pull them apart before anything more could happen, sending Mickey to the penalty box on a 10 minute misconduct penalty. 

From the response from the crowd it was clear they were not too happy to see the pending fight broken up before it even started. The energy in the stadium was palpable every time Ian and Mickey so much as got near each other on the ice. The crowd was hungry for blood.

Ian purposefully skated over toward the penalty box as he made his way to his position for the next face off. He laughed at Mickey as he passed and gave him a little wave. Mickey replied with a wink and blowing a kiss, gestures only visible to Ian. 

Ian scored a few minutes later, bringing his team up 3-0. He turned and pointed a gloved hand toward Mickey in the box as he cellied by way of saying both “thank you” and “fuck you” for the goal. 

Mickey didn’t let up on his chirps even after serving his ten minute misconduct. The 3-0 lead got extended to 4-0, earning Ian another point in the game with an assist off that goal. At seven minutes left on the clock, Ian finally caved, and dropped his gloves responding to Mickey’s latest antics. At this point, his team had a far enough lead, and even though Coach would likely chew his head a bit in the dressing room after, he trusted his boys enough to not blow a four goal lead with the remaining minutes left in the game.

Ian dodged Mickey’s swing, grabbing a fist full of jersey, and ended pulled him into a headlock. Mickey pushed against him, but lost his footing and ended up falling to the ice, bringing Ian down with him. The refs were quick to break it up once they were down, and they were both sent off to the box with matching five minute penalties, plus the extra two on Mickey for instigating. 

They spent the next five minutes chirping back and forth across the glass that separated them in their respective penalty boxes. Ian’s team ended up scoring again on the power play off Mickey’s extra penalty, extending their lead even more. 

The game finished with Ian’s team winning 5-0, securing themselves the first of four wins they needed to take the series. Ian had been so focused on Mickey and his own game, he hadn’t even realize he had completed his first ever Gordie Howe hat trick until Lip presented him with the puck he grabbed off the ice at the end of the game. The puck was already wrapped in stick tape with the date and “First Gordie Howe Hat Trick” written around the side.

* * *

The Milkovich-Gallagher on ice rivalry might be legendary, but off ice, they were each other’s biggest supporters. For those in the know, it was the best kept secret in hockey that Mickey Milkovich and Ian Gallagher had essentially been together since juniors where they played for the same team and were housed with the same billet family. 

They didn’t actually do a great job of hiding it anymore. It was more of an open secret between their teams, and anyone else in the league who might have figured it out by now. The hockey world as a whole, however, had built up the narrative they hated each other so much, it would take something truly shocking to wake them up.

Coming out wasn’t something they necessarily talked about. No one was out in the league, and holding a press conference to announce to the world they were in a relationship wasn’t really their style. But both of them had been around long enough, had solid careers, they knew if the timing was ever right, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to put it out there. They just weren’t going to plan something and make a big deal about it. None of the other guys had to after all.

Ian’s team ended up eliminating Mickey’s team after taking the series all the way to game 7. They then went on to win the Western Conference, earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Final. Mickey was in the arena for every game, cheering Ian and his teammates on. There was nowhere else he’d rather be, even if they were directly responsible for ending his season. And when Ian scored the game winning goal in overtime of game 6, securing his team the title of Stanley Cup Champions, Mickey was right there on the ice with the rest of the friends and family celebrating along with them. 

Neither Ian, nor Mickey, thought too much about it, when they embraced on the ice in celebration. It was just what you did when you had just won the highest title you can in the league and the person you love, and who had been by your side to support you the whole way, was right there beside you. 

Lip skated over to them, interrupting to say,

“You guys are aware that you’re probably being broadcast on national tv right now, shocking the pants off of every analyst and fan who seriously thought you hated each other all these years?”

Both Mickey and Ian simultaneously raised their hands to flip Lip off, laughing. Neither really caring what the hockey world as a whole thought in the moment. It was probably a sign Lip’s words were true, however, since none one of the on ice media teams had approached them and were just standing there wide-eyed with multiple cameras pointed in their direction unsure how to react. 

Finally one brave journalist approached. 

“Leah Lewis, The Athletic. So Ian, walk me through it, overtime, you watch the puck soar past the goalie’s glove and into the net, what’s the first thing going through your head?”

The question took Ian aback, He was expecting the question to be related to Mickey, not the actual game, but he was much happier answering questions about hockey than he was about his relationship. And perhaps that was why his response was more honest than his typical media response.

“Honestly, the first thing I did when I saw my shot go in was turn and look toward where I knew Mickey was in the crowd. We might have not been teammates on the ice since we were 17 but none of this would mean the same without him by my side. As far as I’m concerned, this win is just as much his as it is mine.”

“I’m still not touching the Cup until it’s my name engraved on it though,” Mickey chimed in. “And if you so much as think about bringing it into our bed I will be sleeping on the couch.”

The journalist smiled and lowered her phone, which was being used as a tape recorder.

“Can I ask you two something strictly off the record?” she asked. Ian and Mickey shrugged and nodded for her to continue. “So this,” she gestured between the two of them, “doesn’t seem like something new or fleeting, albeit from my limited interaction with you two.”

“How about I give you an answer on the record,” Mickey said, interrupting her, knowing where the question was heading. There was no going back now. No doubt there was video of them kissing on center ice circulating in the media and on the internet already, so they might as well get a quote out there from themselves to go beside whatever theories were circling. And since this journalist’s first question after witnessing their kiss was about hockey, not about their relationship, she felt like a good person to give the exclusive to in the moment. 

She nodded, and raised her phone back up, pressing record. “Ian and I have practically been together since juniors. It hasn’t been easy, being gay in the League, and especially not when your boyfriend is on an opposing team, but over the years, we’ve found ways to make it work. And our teams have always been supportive of us. We didn’t plan this. Coming out, I mean. But Ian just won the Stanley Cup, so of course I was gonna be here to support and celebrate with him, just like I know he’d be if it was my team winning the Cup, and just like every other guy on the ice right now is doing with their families.”

She nodded, taking in Mickey's statement, while clearly trying to figure out the best way to ask a follow up question.

“So the rivalry?” she asked, and the boys laughed.

“Just part of the game,” Ian said, then Mickey added, “What happens on the ice, stays on the ice.”

“Thank you. I’ll let you get back to celebrating.” She gestured behind the boys to one of Ian's teammates skating over with the Cup.

Ian turned to accept the Cup into his own hands, and raised it above his head. He then leaned in to give Mickey a quick kiss on the cheek, before he skated off to take his lap with the Cup as a Stanley Cup Champion, and now one of the first out hockey players.


End file.
